Automobile-fender.



R. THRO'GKMORTON.

AUTOMOBILE'FEND'ER.

APPLICATION man mm. 18. 1915 1,157,460. Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

R. THRQCKMORTO N.

AUTOMOBILE FENDER.

APPLIICANTION FILED MAR. 18. 1915.

Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- memeocmemm e museum, PENNSYLVANIA.

' eurromonimmiziimnfi a c'itiz'e bf thellnitedfitates', residing at specificationyf guards,'arrangedfto prevent a'per'sonjor 0b I 'c.ontact 'w-ith the-lroaclf-bed'when aperson 'org when the latter ar'eti rned forsfiee i g- Philadelphiafinthe sce t? f. h a ia-1' andj b tate' ,-1 f Pennsylvania, have fin vented; ew and useful impro e nt uto e:

biIe Fenders, offwhioh- 'ch I following s My 1nvent10n-lfrelates to new 'anddusefu li improvements in automobile fenders, and hasfforiits'objeotto providea deyi'ce of this. characterwhieh may besup'p'orted from the stationary, portion of the front axle having the'whe'el'guard portions so suspended that they will follow thefpositio'ns'of the; wheels A Y- further;- object'of; vtl'l ef iiriven'tion. isjto provide ;an a?utorn0bi1e fexider havijngwheel je''t from falling beneath: the wheels, said uards, having skidsior'rnnnerjs adapted to provide .a .arrangerrient."of,parts-for {mounting the," tender upon the "vehicle, so]

"that whensai'd fender strikes ail-objectorperson, said fender will .be unlocked ,Qor.

. some; of h W ts d se e re 9 5 bfth parts toperrnit the fender-to de'scend,-

so that, the iskid's' 'carried ,by. .Qthe wheel gnard's'will restupon the ground.1

with the ends.- in View, th s, Invention I consists in the details-of construction and com lo riatlim;- of: elements hereinafter set claims.-

' ,which; this invention app'ertains may 1111- derstand .how'ftoj nalte; enduse the I same, I

- orth; and thenispecifi'cally designated by the;

In'orde' rrithat those skilled in the'art-"to drawing form'ingye gpart of this specificm Figure}. .is-a" Vertical sectionalviewof my' improyed automobile ,fender s'howing ,it'.

' mounted-upon the-front axleof a, vehicle.

and inns loweredfiposition with the-skids.

EigL'Q -i fron-trielevation thereof;' 1? ig. 3 is..a pl'a ie fthereofi- Fig.4 is a-yiew simila'rto ig: l ishowingi the 1 fender released perspective viewjof lithe nonnting device,

ispecifipetion (if ietters Patent. Alignment; ai h is,

be hereina pro1ect1n'g front extension or portion 10,

theendof whic further stifiened fend-1,

brackets lione of whieh isjseeured'tothe i915. Serial No, 15,224.

axle'a'ndreleased when striking a person or -object. I i I In'carrymg out my inyention as here emhodiedfl-grepresent a pair of wheel guards eaeh comprising a wheel-engaging or back portion 3 concave-convex in cross section Patented Oct. 19, 1915.

whereby the fender is secured to the' front *I and forming lengthwise the arc'of a circle corresponding approximately to the curvatnreofthe wheeh'afrontportion 4: also con-- 1 ca vo-convex in cross section and arcuate infl" shape, but cnrving inward fron'rend to'end.

or in' 'agreverse direction to that of the wheel'engaging portion, anda skid or run ner 5 connecting the lower ends of the wheel engaging portion andthe front portion, said 'skidjbeing preferably formed integral with the. other parts. To,each of these guards is seeure'di-anhatttiching rod 6 comprising a body' lp oitionff, the inner or rear end of wh ch" 1s.;bent downwardly, as at 8, and ."zthenbent forwardly. parallel with thebody as at .9 totproduce a.hook for a purpose to ter described, anda downwardly I I 4 is 'atteghed'to thesk'id portwnlofitheawheel guard...

,The airf ods 6 which fare usedwith the ,wheel gqards' are joinedi together "or braced by ;a ;transyerse rod- 11 .tliej'ends of which are piiioted totherodsffi -adjacent the:

wardly extending, portion? meeti'ngpoint of theubody and'the do wn- The. device is" reiigthened :by,

bank. portion-of eaolrof the guards, the 0p posite ends; being attached "to the doWn.-

weirdly projectingfxtensions or portions 10.

The downward v I projecting portiensfw are eaeh -provided with; a number of projec 'tions-l3, to which arepi voted theends "ofthe, outwardly boweds prings ,llepr lattice .objec it froni' falling" beneath the? moving ve- The est, as fei.stirer's eye iif m opening 18 being of sufficient size to perunit the body 7 of the rod 6 to freely move therein, and to prevent the withdrawal of to cause it to lie between the upturned exe.

tensions or projections 16 and 19 of the swivel plate.

The swivel plate 17 is swiveled to a clamp 21 by means of a bolt 22- or its equivalent, said .bolt passing through the swivel plate, a portion of the clamp, and a washer 23 situated between the swivel plate and the clamp, anda nutillis threaded on said bolt to prevent its displacement. The clamp :21 is preferably formed from a'single piece of material bent upon itself as at to form an extension of double thickness, through which passes the bolt 22, one portion of this material or metallic strip extending a suiiicient distance as at '26 to accommodate-the i the axle, it then being bent at right angles to form one-half of the bottom wall 29, this then being bent again at right angles to. form the extension 30. The other portion of' the clamp material or metalhostrip is bent at right angles intermediate the ends of the top wall 26 to form a side wall 31s1m1lar to the side wall 28, and is then bent .atnght angles to form one-half of thebottoin wall 32, and then bent again at right angles to form the extension 33 adapted to cooperate with the extension 30, both of sai'dextensions being fastened together by a bolt or its equivalent 34, whereby said clamp is securely fastened. upon the axle. In practice .there. are two of these clamps and swivel tion, what I claim as new and useful 1s.-

plates upon the'axle, and in these swivel plates are mounted the ends of the rods 6, the downwardly pro ectmg portions 10 of which carry the guards 2, said guards surrounding portions of the automobile wheels 35. As saidwheels are operated from side to side during the steering of the vehicle, the guards 2 will be compelled to follow said wheels, moving the entire fender from side to side with relation to the vehicle through the medium of the swivel plates, and upon the fulcrums formed by the bolts 22, ed that the entire front of the vehicle, regardless of its direction of'travel, is covered at all times by the fender, thus preventing a person or object from ever passing beneath the wheels of the automobile.

In order to prevent the wheels or the tires carried thereby from coming directly in contact with the guards, I provide the rear portion 3 of the guards with a lug or projection 36, to which is secured a small shaft 37 having a roller 38 mounted thereon arranged to project inwardly beyond the inner face of the portion 3 ot the guard, and engage the wheel or its the, when the wheels are being turned for steering the 'vehicle,' thereby eliminating a great amount of friction and.

preventing the wheel or t e from rubbing upon the portion 3 of the guards, so that the parts will not be unduly worn. 7

When the automobile is running under ordinary conditions, the tender will be in the position shown in Fig. 1, but should the fender come in contact with a person or obje'ct, said tender will be forced backward, causing the hook at the inner end of the rod 6 to be disengaged. from theprojection 16 on the swivel plate, thereby releasing the fender, permitting the same to descend to approximately the position shown in Fig. 4. When the lender has descended to this position, the skids 5 will be in Contact with the road bed, producing an exceedingly effective.

brake and the tendency of the wheelswill be} to ride up the rear portion 3 of the guards-,

the action of the wheels upon the guards 1s to draw said guards beneath the wheels, thereby causing the wheels to be raised froinf the ground as aforementioned. To reset the fender it is only necessary to raise the same -until the'ends of the hooks are in ahnement with the holes15, whenthe-entire device may be drawn forward and the fender will then be in its normal position. i

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown, as these may be variedgwithin the limits of the appended claims without do parting from the s iritof my invention.

Having thus fuly described my invenand arranged to move from side to side therewith, each wheel guard comprising an arcuate rear portion concave-convex 1n cross section arranged to partially cover the vehicle wheel, a lower portion or skid, and a forward arcuate portion bowed -in-., ward. from end to end and coneavo-convexv in cross section, said forward. and rear portions being connected at their upper ends, ands plurality of outwardly bowed springs pivoted to the frame and disposed between the wheel. guards.

2. An automobile tenderv comprising a. frame, wheel guards carried by said frame, outwardly bowed springs carried by said frame and disposed between the wheel. guards, and means for Inoi nting the frame upon the automobile anle, whereby the same may be moved from side to side with the Wheels, and be released to permit the descent thereof when coming in contact with a person or object.

3. in automobile fender comprising a frame, means for mounting said frame upon the axle so that it can move from side to side and be released, wheel guards each comprising an arcuate rear portion concavo-convex in cross section, a lower portion or skid, and a forward arcuate portion bowed in the opposite direction to the rear portion, and concavo-convex in cross section, the upper end of said forward portion being connected with the upper end of the rear portion, and outwardly bowed springs carried by the frame and disposed between the Wheel guards.

4. An automobile fender comprising a affixed my signature in the frame, Wheel guards carried thereby arranged to partially inclose the wheels of an automobile and act as a brake when the frame is released, outwardly bowed springs carried by the frame and disposed between the Wheel guards, hooks carried by the inner end of the frame, clamps secured to the automobile axle, and swivel plates pivoted upon the clamps and arranged to be engaged by a portion of the frame and the hooks for releasably mounting the fender.

1n testimony whereof, I have hereunto presence of two subscribing witnesses. 1 RAY THROCKMORTON.

Witnesses:

M. P. l/VILLIAMSON,

MoLLm Tomes. 

